Converging on cashless: Taking the TNG eWallet app on a spin overseas

The Star

02-06-2025

In the last five years, Malaysia has seen a boom in cashless payments, particularly through e-wallets in the wake of Covid-19 amid rising concerns of over physical contact and the need for safer transaction methods.
From the 2024 Bank Negara Malaysia annual report, there were 14.7 billion ­consumer transactions made using e-payments (consisting of transactions made using payment cards, e-money purchase transactions and Financial Process Exchange or FPX transactions) totalling RM698.1bil. Of this, e-money transactions (consisting of e-­wallets and card-based e-money) made up 38% of all e-payments in general.
A further breakdown shows that 64% of all e-money transactions is ­attributed to e-wallets.
This means that in terms of the share of e-payment transactions, e-money ranked ­second only to online banking, which is only slightly ahead at 39%.
According to Muhamad Hanif Asa'Ari, director of distributive trade and service industry secretariat with the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry (KPDN), achieving this took a ­collaborative effort between the ­government and private sector.
Muhamad Hanif highlighted cross-­ministry collaboration to boost e-wallet adoption among retailers, particularly in areas facing ­connectivity ­challenges.
'We are proud to apply the principle of a whole-of-government approach, whereby we understand that both the government and the private sectors must work together to achieve our aim of digital inclusivity in Malaysia.
'The private sector alone cannot achieve the growth that we expected without the government's support and vice versa. The government also ­cannot achieve the policy that we aim for without the support from the ­private sectors.
'This is the whole-of-government approach to ensure a win-win situation, both for the government and for the private sector,' he said during a talk session titled 'Driving Cashless Adoption and Technology in Rural Malaysia' at the 2025 World Expo in Osaka, Japan.
Muhamad Hanif highlighted cross-ministry ­collaboration to boost e-wallet adoption among retailers, particularly in areas facing connectivity challenges.
As part of a whole-of-government approach, KPDN has worked with the Communications Ministry and aligned with telcos to expand coverage in rural areas lacking reliable Internet coverage to ensure inclusion in the digital economy for both urban and rural Malaysians.
He further credited the growth to the various service providers operating in the country, along with the campaigning and advocacy conducted by the government via the Retail Digitalisation Initiative (Redi), a ­programme under the Twelfth Malaysia Plan 2021-2025 aiming to encourage the use of cashless payments by rural small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs).
Key collaborators
As of 2024, 2.6 million merchants in the country accept e-wallets as a ­payment method, with Muhamad Hanif citing strong cooperation between the public and private sectors as a key reason for this achievement.
The current level of adoption far exceeds the original target of 15,000 merchants by 2025 set by KPDN under Redi.
For the upcoming Thirteenth Malaysia Plan, Muhamad Hanif says the Ministry aims to narrow the digital gap, targeting an increase in rural e-wallet adoption from 36.5% to match the urban usage rate of 63.8%.
Such collaborations include efforts to onboard merchants for QR payments by e-wallet providers like TNG Digital, the company behind the Touch 'n Go (TNG) eWallet. TNG Digital chief operations officer Mohd Herman Sarbini said that 38% of PayNet merchants were acquired by TNG eWallet.
Mohd Herman added that the support from the government through ­initiatives like eMadani and eBelia have been ­critical in driving e­-wallet ­adoption by Malaysian consumers.
One such merchant is Yiap Phing Phing, director of Penang-based Village Burger, who shared her positive ­experience in transitioning from a cash-only business that went digital with assistance from TNG Digital.
'Once we went digital, we started seeing things we didn't notice before.
'Before that, we were operating in the dark. We didn't know what sold well, when we were busiest, and who our loyal customers were.
'But now with digital records, we can see it all, like tracking our sales, predicting our busy hours, and giving rewards to our loyal customers.
'This isn't just business anymore, it's strategy,' she said, adding that 'our cash handling got easier, queues moved faster and our daily closing was smoother'.
'Going cashless wasn't just about a payment method. It became a better way to serve our customers, especially during rush hour,' said Yiap.
Mohd Herman, who also gave a talk at the 2025 World Expo in Osaka, added that the support from the government through initiatives like eMadani and eBelia have been critical in driving adoption by Malaysian consumers.
'About 25 million recipient of users have benefited from the programme itself. And from there, I think we are the only e-wallet that participated in all six programmes throughout the six years,' he said.
Most recently, in early May, TNG eWallet opened registration to Asean travellers planning to visit Malaysia, aiming to let tourists shop like locals and spend at local businesses, ­particularly SMEs and micro-SMEs.
The e-wallet also plans to offer a business-centric wallet in the near future, which would provide SMEs with financial services and lending.
It will further be adding an in-app menu ordering feature at supported restaurants, similar to what is offered in the AliPay app, sometime next year.
Adventures in Japan
TNG eWallet also offers some travel-­centric offerings, such as insurance, providing coverage for travel cancellations or loss of deposits, lost or damaged luggage, medical, and personal accidents.
This is alongside bookings for both flights and tours or experiences via Firefly and Klook integrated directly within the e-wallet.
Visitors from Malaysia will be able to enjoy a familiar ­payment ­experience at convenience stores, most major shopping outlets, and ­certain restaurant chains.
There's also the option to get a roaming eSIM for a specific country or region to skip the hassle of fumbling about at the airport to switch in a new SIM card, along with cross-border payments via integration with three separate payment infrastructures, or rails, those being PayNet, Visa, and AliPay+.
The QR payment offering is pretty handy from LifestyleTech's experience in Japan while attending the 2025 World Expo, with a solid portion of storefronts in central Osaka accepting Malaysia's TNG eWallet, thanks to local payment provider PayPay's partnership with AliPay+.
While certainly not seamless since Japan is still a cash-centric country at its core, visitors from Malaysia will be able to enjoy a familiar ­payment ­experience at convenience stores, most major shopping outlets, and ­certain restaurant chains.
For transportation, the various Osaka metro train lines accepted debit and credit cards, though the trams accepted only cash or Japan-specific payment cards.
Travellers looking to make QR ­payments can look for stickers displaying the TNG eWallet, PayPay, or Alipay+ logos, or simply ask the store attendants or retail staff if they accept any of those options.
However, it's still a good idea to keep some Japanese yen or a credit card on hand to cover all bases, just in case QR payments aren't supported.